Ammonia is converted to how much nitrite, and nitrate?

[boxfishpooalot]

If I have 1ppm of ammonia, how much would that end up as after bacteria convert it nitrite?

And how much nitrate is there from that nitrite after being reduced by bactria?

Do you know how much ammonia fish produce on a daily basis through urine and respiration(of course excluding fecal decay)

There has gotta be some hard-core math envolved in those questions :lol:

 

[Habib]

Molecular weight of ammonia is 17 (ammonium 18, but let's neglect that).

Nitrite 46

Nitrate 62

1 ppm ammonia --> 2.7 ppm nitrite --> 3.6 ppm nitrate.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

Thanks Habib! Your so usefull when Randys not around to answer questions :lol: J/K Randy


What about the rate at wich fish produce ammonia? Im sure there is some kind of rule by weight in average. Anyone know?

 

[Habib]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7543889#post7543889 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boxfishpooalot
Thanks Habib! Your so usefull when Randys not around to answer questions :lol: J/K Randy


What about the rate at wich fish produce ammonia? Im sure there is some kind of rule by weight in average. Anyone know?

I left the easy question to be answered by Randy.

 

[Habib]

Nitrogen pollution in mariculture: toxicity and excretion of nitrogenous compounds by marine fish
R. D. Handy1 and M. G. Poxton1

(1) Department of Biological Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, EH14 4AS Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Accepted: 13 June 1993

Summary The toxicological and environmental significance of N-containing effluents discharged to seawater from fish farms is difficult to establish. Environmental quality standards for N compounds in seawater are hard to derive in the context of aquaculture because the toxicity of NH3 and NO2 - to marine fish is poorly understood. Furthermore, details of aquacultural effluents are not routinely reported. Marine teleosts excrete N via the gills, skin and faeces, but do not have the metabolic capacity to cause breaches in discharge consent conditions. The most likely cause of discharge consent breaches will be poor farming practice. Nitrogen pollution will arise from food wastage, poor N absorption, and N retention. It is estimated that 52â€"œ95% of any N added to the culture system as food will ultimately pollute the environment.

 

[Habib]

Most of the nitrogen will come from proteins and IIRC the average nitrogen content of proteins is about 15% by weight.

One ppm nitrogen corresponds to approx 1.2 ppm ammonia.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

"It is estimated that 52â€"œ95% of any N added to the culture system as food will ultimately pollute the environment."

Wow, those are big numbers. Over feeding could have signifigant impact on nitrates. Not just from leftover food, but fish feacal matter.

"Tropical reef fish release an average of ~0.5 ± 0.1 ?M ammonia / g / hr, and a 3" yellow tang weighs approximately 10.5 ± 2.2g. Thus, our addition of 0.5 mg/L/day in a tank with 8 L (2.1 gallons) of water is roughly equivalent of 2 adult yellow tangs in that tank! Most well-stocked reef aquaria produce much less than 0.5 mg NH4+ / L / day - this level is closer to high-density aquaculture systems which typically generate 0.6 - 2.0 mg NH4+ / L per day (Tseng & Wu 2004).

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/6/aafeature/view?searchterm=sand denitrification

Do you think ~0.5 ± 0.1 ?M ammonia / g / hr is true?

 

[Boomer]

Based on some books an equations I have that is about right.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

so a yellow tang produces .25ppm of ammonia per hour,and in 24 hours we would have 6ppm of ammonia. Without the presence of bacteria.

With bacteria present we would reduce that daily output to 21.6ppm of nitrates? So in a week without any filtration media in an aquarium, lets say bare bottomed with nothing but water we would aquire 21.6ppm No3 x 7 days= 151.6ppm of No3 without any form of export or denitrification.

151ppm of nitrates in 7 days?

And in a month 606ppm nitrate

 

[Boomer]

Nope you are off Box go back and look. It equates to .5 mg / l /day or equal to two yellow tangs or 1 tang producing .25 mg / l /day living in 8 l of water or 2.1 gals of water. If the tank has 8 l, then .25 / 8 = .031 mg / l / day for 1 tang living in 1 l of water. You are x'ing hrs when it is already in 24hrs/1 day



He says it all right here
Most well-stocked reef aquaria produce much less than 0.5 mg NH4+ / L / day - this level is closer to high-density aquaculture systems which typically generate 0.6 - 2.0 mg NH4+ / L per day

This is a whole system only producing 0.6 - 2.0 mg / l /day. No way is 1 tang going to produce 10x to 3x ( from your 6 ppm / l) of a whole aquaculture sytem.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

I was hoping sombody would correct me Thanks Boom.

I dont understand how to translate that to daily nitrate now because the number cannot be multiplied by an even number, like I was doing :lol: I think I need to know the moles or somthing?


Can someone calculate the nitrate produced by that tang, based on Habibs answer?

 

[Boomer]

I also made an error

This is wrong--> If the tank has 8 l, then .25 / 8 = .031 mg. It is just .25, I do not know what I was thinking, another late night.

Hab already showed you

1 ppm ammonia --> 2.7 ppm nitrite --> 3.6 ppm nitrate

Ammonia x 3.6 = Nitrate ppm
Ammonia x 2.7 = Nitrite ppm

So,
...............= 0.25 mg Ammonia / l /day

.25 x 2.7 = 0.675 mg Nitrite/ l day

.25 x 3.6 = 0.90 mg Nitrate / l / day

 

[boxfishpooalot]

Dont mess up like that when making bombs J/k

.90ppm nitrate a day is not so bad, im sure plants and phytoplankton would comsume that daily. In a bb tank.

 

[Boomer]

I do not make bombs, I disarm them and that is WORSE :lol: But now that I'm all retired I do not need to worry

 

[boxfishpooalot]

So I figure my aquarium fish produce about 9ppm(10x .9ppm) nitrate a day. Thats 15 fish, some large and some small.

I got 5 chromis,yellow tang,naso tang, regal tang, unicorn tang, tomatoe clownfish, percula clownfish, hawian puffer(small), dog faced puffer, a royal gramma and a cleaner wrasse.O yea and a yellow spotted boxfish.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How exactly did you arrive at that? Remember that you need to take mg and divide by liters to get mg/L = ppm.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

I was hoping you would chime in Randy.Well.... Im not sure. Can you figure it out? I had boomer correct me, so why not

125 gallons of water, 15 fish.

If you really want to know how I arrived at that, I just x .90ppm of nitrate x 10 fish(approx size average of fish, in relation to that yellow tangs size :lol: )

 

[reverendmaynard]

It's been a long time since algebra and chemistry for me too, but I don't think I saw either of you take the size of the 125g tank into consideration. Let me take a wack at it...

2 tangs = .5mg/l/day in 8l of water.
1 tang=.25mg/l/day in 8l of water.
.25mg/l/day * 8l = 2mg/day
2mg/day / 600l (liters in 125 gallons)=.0033mg/l/day

One tang in a 125 gal is producing .0033mg/l/day
.0033 * 2.7 = .0089mg/l/day nitrite
.0033 * 3.6 = .0119mg/l/day nitrate

10 similar fish in a 125 = .119mg/l/day nitrate.

 

[Boomer]

No I did not look at his 150 gal tank

I get the same answer as you only I do the math different.

1 tang=.25mg/l/day in 8l of water.

600l/ 8l = 75 and .25 / 75 = .003333, same as yours. You will be diluting the tank by a factor of 75 or adding 8 l of .25mg to 592 l

 

[reverendmaynard]

What's that saying....?

Oh yeah... Two wrongs don't make a right!


Seriously though, I think we nailed it for a 150gal tank given that production rate.

Of course, he's got a 125 (I can't believe I screwed up the easiest calculation in the equation! 125*4=500! Doh!), but assuming he's got a sump, it's probably at least 150 gallons total.